"Are you truly that eager to die?" Kaydan asked, his voice trembling as he held back a surge of emotions he could hardly describe. A profound disbelief lingered in his eyes.
Hearing the question, Arvin nodded. His expression remained entirely unchanged.
"I no longer have any purpose to live in this world. And my only task right now is to ensure those greedy bastards die. Once this mission is complete, there will be nothing left for me. I hope you can understand."
However, instead of understanding or accepting the logical reason as Arvin had hoped, Kaydan's reaction was the exact opposite.
"You are selfish!" Kaydan exclaimed, his tone laden with frustration and anger. The man clenched both of his fists tightly, glaring fiercely into the blue eyes of his savior without blinking. "What is the difference between you and me? We both lost something precious! But why do you still insist on refusing to take me with you?!"
The words Kaydan shouted echoed loudly throughout the silent throne room.
Arvin fell silent for a moment. He realized that the man before him possessed an empathy and a sense of shared fate that was far too strong. If he allowed this argument to continue, Kaydan would never let him go.
He thus decided to take extreme measures. His calm gaze suddenly sharpened, radiating an incredibly dense and oppressive aura of intimidation. The temperature around them seemed to drop by several degrees.
"I don't want to hear your refusal!" Arvin retorted firmly. "You are free! Just move forward and live your life freely from this second onward! Isn't freedom from this hell what you have always wanted?!"
The pressure Arvin intentionally emitted made Kaydan realize that there was no longer any room for negotiation.
"If that is truly your decision, then I will live freely as you say." Kaydan said with a faintly trembling voice, choosing to yield.
"Good!" Arvin replied in a firm and absolute tone.
Beneath his cold exterior, Arvin actually let out a long sigh in his heart. He felt deeply relieved by the forced understanding the man had finally shown.
Arvin then raised his right hand and retrieved an item from his dimensional storage space.
The item was a magic bag.
"This is for you!" Arvin said as he extended his hand, offering the magic bag to Kaydan. "Inside this item, there is an abundance of food and clean water, more than enough to fulfill your needs for the next ten years. Take it!"
Kaydan raised his head, staring at the bag being offered to him with wide, disbelieving eyes.
"A-Are you sure about giving something this valuable to me?" he asked in a hesitant tone, not daring to touch the luxurious item.
Seeing the hesitation that was delaying their parting, Arvin scoffed softly. He did not want to let his precious time go to waste just for the sake of a dramatic handover.
With a swift movement, Arvin grabbed Kaydan's right wrist and forcefully shoved the magic bag right into his palm.
"I despise people who overthink to the point of wasting my time!" Arvin hissed coldly, forcing Kaydan's fingers to tightly grip the bag's strap.
Kaydan simply stood frozen in place. He neither resisted nor refused as the incredibly valuable bag was forcefully handed to him.
After ensuring that Kaydan had accepted his gift, Arvin immediately turned around. And with calm steps, he began walking away toward the exit of the ruined throne room.
"If one day... someone or a group of people comes to you and wishes to recruit you, prove their worth first." Arvin advised as he continued to walk. "If they are truly worthy, and if their ultimate goal is to kill me... I hope you will help them with all your heart."
"What did you say?!" Kaydan blurted out instantly, his voice rising in pitch, unable to believe what his ears had just heard. "That is insane! I am not a strong person! Besides, how could I ever be willing to attack the person who saved—"
Arvin did not allow the man to finish his sentence of refusal.
"Don't you currently feel heavily indebted to me because I freed you?!" Arvin interrupted in an extremely firm and absolute tone, echoing loudly and halting Kaydan's words in the air. "Therefore, I am collecting that debt right now! Repay your life debt by helping that person kill me in the future!"
Arvin's words instantly left Kaydan speechless. His mouth locked shut. He could only stand frozen in place, gripping the magic bag in his hands as his body trembled violently.
Meanwhile, Arvin, who kept walking out of the throne room, curled his lips into a faint smile. He felt absolutely certain that Kaydan would do exactly what he had just said.
"I am looking forward to the day destiny brings us together again. Not as comrades protecting one another... but as enemies killing each other."
Arvin then raised his right hand into the air, giving a brief wave without looking back as a farewell.
"Until we meet again, Kaydan. I hope your new life brings you joy."
Having said what he wanted to say, Arvin turned the corner. He walked down the corridor, leaving Kaydan completely alone inside the ruined throne room without glancing back even once.
[Back to the present]
Inside the lounge on the second floor of Arvin Vedegra's family mansion, Kaydan sat frozen, his pupils trembling violently. The story he had just heard left him completely speechless.
For the second time in his existence spanning across two different timelines, he had been freed from the horrifying shackles of slavery by the exact same person, yet under completely different circumstances and methods.
In that era, he was freed from slavery after Arvin killed King Pratesias, Prince Wiltan, and Prince Lionias in the throne room.
However, in this era, in the reality he was currently living, he was freed from slavery after Arvin infiltrated the Victoriaz Kingdom's palace.
Kaydan felt that his life's destiny revolved and centered exclusively around one single point. And that center was none other than Arvin Vedegra, the man he had now chosen with all his heart to be his husband.
"My Light?"
That gentle call made Arvin focus his gaze entirely on his tenth spouse.
"What is it, Kaydan?"
"Was it because of your memories from that place called Earth, combined with the original Arvin Vedegra's memories of meeting me in the past... that made you specifically ask me to be your tenth spouse, right after you removed that slave tattoo from my body in this era?"
Hearing the question coming from Kaydan's mouth, Arvin did not evade it. He nodded, confirming what his spouse had just asked.
"Yes, you are right, Kaydan." Arvin answered in a very gentle tone. "But, to be honest... I truly did not expect you to be inside that palace. Because in that game, not a single player on Earth knew the exact details of your location. The only information available was the fact that you were a former slave who had been freed from the shackles of slavery."
Kaydan remained glued to his sofa. He gazed deeply into Arvin's face. Within that gaze lay an overwhelming sense of relief, a joyous shock, and an immense gratitude, all blending together into an invaluable union of emotions.
And in the next second, the gray-haired youth smiled broadly. He did not care about the fact that he was a hidden romantic target created by someone from a world without magic. To him, all of that meant absolutely nothing.
The only thing he knew for certain at this moment was one thing: he was indeed destined by the universe to remain bound to and stand beside the man who had freed him from the shackles of slavery twice, in two different eras, in his lifetime.